Homemade Abstract Art and a New Table

Learn how to paint abstract art on canvas with just a few simple supplies for under $25!

The sea moves the heart, sparks the imagination and fills the soul with lasting joy.

Robert Wyland

I fell in love with turquoise at the ocean. The ebb and flow of gorgeous color across the vastness of God's creation is truly my happy place.

Gorgeous blue waters have the makings of an expensive abstract art piece, but it's not! It's a quick DIY project with just paint and a canvas! Less then $22 for custom, gorgeous art in your home. | Tutorial at TheTurquoiseHome.com

So it's fitting that I now have this pretty blue art piece in my living room.

Let me rewind a bit.

Maybe two years ago I fell head over heels for this console table. I mean, really loved it. We already had a table in this spot under our gallery wall.

It was Coach's table when we got married, and his parents had bought it for their home years earlier. It was lovely and served us well, but it just wasn't my style and didn't seem like a perfect fit for this space.

The beloved Everett Foyer Table - swoon!

I spotted the Everett Foyer Table on a few blogs and thought it looked beautiful. I looked it up on World Market and measured the dimensions. It fit my space perfectly. The length was just right, and it was narrower than the table we had.

Fast forward a couple of years. I decided to save my birthday money to buy the World Market table. I saved enough to combine with what I made selling the old table, and it arrived about a month ago. (PS – if you want one and it's out of stock, sign up to be alerted when it's back and be ready to buy it ASAP. It is super popular!)

Spring Gallery Wall | TheTurquoiseHome.com

I had already been toying with the idea of taking down the gallery wall. I arranged it soon after we moved into this house using just the frames I had on hand, since I didn't have matching ones.

It was a hodgepodge of white, black, wood and plastic clip frames, and I've been wanting something more cohesive for a while. I also wanted to hang some new pictures. The best solution? Take it all down and start over.

I toyed with the idea of putting a mirror on the new table, but I already have a huge mirror in the entryway right next to this space. I also don't have much artwork, especially big pieces. I didn't have much to spend, but I remembered this tutorial by my friend Sarah at Life on Virginia Street.

For this whole project I spent around $22 on the paint and canvas. The paint was 30% off, and I used a 40% off coupon for the canvas, all at Hobby Lobby. I haven't decided whether to frame it yet. I painted the sides of the canvas, so it looks fine for now, but I think it will look more polished if I frame it.

Miss A went back to preschool yesterday, so while Baby G napped, I pulled out my paints and got to work.

What You'll Need to Make Abstract Art

Paint (I copied Sarah and used nearly the same paint colors from this paint line: #485 Raw Umber, #407 Kelly Green, #427 Ivory White, #2499 Skyline, #442 Baby Blue, #320 Jamaican Sea and Sea Breeze from this other paint line)
Paper plate
Brush – I used a 3/4″ fine painting brush, but really, any brush will do.
Canvas – mine is 24″ x 36″

That's it!

How to Make Abstract Art

I made a mistake right off the bat. I was trying to figure out where to start and stop each color, so I painted a little of each one on the canvas first. Don't do that.

Start from the top or the bottom and work your way up or down, one color at a time. Sometimes I mixed the colors on the paper plate and other times right on the canvas. The trick is to keep painting while the paint is wet so you can blend the colors. If it dries even a little, it's hard to blend.

My artwork went through several phases. At first I went heavy on the white for a light, bright painting. Then I washed over it with a whitewash effect (watered-down white paint). But that was too washed out for the space.

So I started over. This time I worked from the bottom to the top and used much less white. I still used some, but I wanted more of the color to shine through.

The beauty of a piece like this is that you can keep working on it until it feels right. No timer says you have to finish in a certain time or make it look exactly one way.

Get creative and be free. If you don't like part of it, start over or paint over that one spot. I will say to use caution when going back over a spot that's already dried. I did that a few times, and it's totally noticeable to me. But it adds uniqueness, so I'm happy with it. Just be aware!

And that's all! I painted the whole canvas. Even the white areas are painted white with a touch of blue-green.

I love the colors and how they evoke the waves of the ocean. Just gorgeous. I can't wait to style the rest of the table and figure out what I'm doing with that wall!

Have you ever tried making your own art? How did it go?

Now see how I framed it on the cheap!